The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-09-16
DEPARTMENT.
SHALL OUR WOMEN vore9


Prejudice the Real Source of the Many
Objections Made Against Women vot.
ing.
From the speech of Oliver E Branch.
Of Weare. delivered in the New Hamp-
shire Legislature. August 2. 1887. in
support of a bill to give women suf-
frage in town and city elections. the
following is taken:
WELL" says gallant. chivalric
Conservatism, IF women vote they
should do military duty. should they
not?" Certainly. if the necessities OF
the State require. But what logical
connection is there between voting
and fighting? Not the slightest. The
State demands the services of men i'm
time of war. not because they vote. but
because they are able-bodied and are,
of all citizens, the best fitted for that
particular work. just as the State Sc.
lects its judges and magistrates, not
because they vote. but because they
are fitted by training in the law to do
that kind of service. It exempts GER
tain of its voters from military duty be-
cause they are not able-bodied.
The whole philosophy of service in
the State is based upon the idea of
special fitness. 1t does not arise out
of any miserable, pick-thank idea of a
bargain and barter over the right to
vote. But, gentlemen. in times of
war, women have ever borne their
part, as effectively, as heroically, as
men. There are no more thrilling
pictures of military achievement than
those in which women are the central
figures. Boadicea. hurting the hordes
of her native Barbarians upon the
trained and disciplined legions of
Rome; Joan of Arc, turning back the
tide of English invasion. while de.
jected and ilabby King looked on in
gaping wonder; Maria Theresa, who,
when the Great Frederick was threat
ening her throne and kingdom, as
describes the scene, erode
after the fashion of her fathers up the
Mount of Defiance, unsheathed the
ancient sword of state, shook it north
and south. east and west, and, with a
glow on her pale face, challenged the
four corners of the world to dispute
her rights and those of her boy
these are examples of what leadership
and prowess women can disclose when
the exigencies of war demand them.
The women of England who fitted out
the Relief Expedition during the
Crimean war-Florence Nightingale
and her associates. who, while the
lrowsy Home Office was hOundering
through the tangle of circumlocution
and red-tape, marched strai ght into
the hospitals at Scutaria and brought
order and cleanliness out of chaos
and filth-did as much for the success
Of English arms in that war rs all the
lignified secretaries and clerks in Lon
Ion, or as Lord Raglan who conducted
the winter campaign upon the bleak
md frozen heights of Crim-Tartary.
The women of the North who did
he work of the Christian Commits
lion during the late war; the women
North and South who. while their
hearts were breaking, scraped the lint
md rolled the bandages and knit
he socks. who glided like angels of
mercy into noisome hospitals and
wards where death brooded and SOL
Tiers lay dying. bringing cheer and
and comfort in their
lands. these were as heroic, rs valiant,
IS useful servants of the State. as the
men who bore the flags and fired the
guns. God help us if the time shall
,ver come when the State or Nation
hall need the services of its women
citizens in the field of war! but if the
lines shall ever come, they will be
ound ready to do their duty whether
hey vote or not. [Applause.]
The fact is, gentlemen. in its last
analysis. the real and only objections
hat can be made against woman's suf-
rage are those which arise out of
prejudice. We are like the deacon
Who was lamenting the growth of her.
sy in his church and the consequences
which would follow certain unorthodox
aeas. Said he: If we give up the
iea of the fall of man we must give
lp original sin. If we abandon Origi- |
al sin. we must give up the atone
nent; if we give up the atonement, we
hall have to let foreordination and
lection slide; and if they 20, then l |
ont sec but what every body will be
aved. Brethren, let us hope for bet
pr things" So when we abandon the
ireek and Roman ideas of woman's |
we find that we must ADAM
on the claim that she is not our men,
Il equal. When we concede that, we
re forced to admit that she has the
roper qualifications to vote; and if we
Omit that, then every body will have
he right to vote and hold office; and
e can only say: Brethren. let us
ope for better things"' Seriously,
as not the time come when we may
afely abandon the social orthodoxy
nd political calvinism. to which we
ave SO long clung. and may try to get
ong with the Bill of Rights and the
eclaration of Independence?
Kansas Women Voters.
The editors of the Western Evanqel-
{, at Wichita, Kan. have sent over
he hundred circulars to as many diff